CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT
Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers is making sure that he’s more than prepared for Parliament’s upcoming economic reform roundtable.
The summit, which has been the topic of furious speculation for months, will play host to healthy debate between various representatives of each segment of the Australian workforce.
From trade unions, to business leaders, entrepreneurs and innovators will have a seat at the table – as the Australian government attempts to draw up a rough map to guide the national economy through an ever-changing landscape of rapidly evolving technology and cultural shifts.
Even the Reserve Bank of Australia’s governor Michele Bullock will be making an appearance on Day 1 of the roundtable, where she will providing board perspectives on productivity trends.
Other topics of discussion will include: export tariffs, work-from-home protocols, capital attraction and tax reform.
However, even with the little we do know about this historic event, it is undeniable that the main event will be the showdown between trade unions and business groups over the existential issue of Artificial Intelligence.
The main draw, however, will commence in the afternoon, with the topic of discussion turning to AI and innovation – a heated subject that has already been the battleground for verbal barbs between unions and employer groups.
Going into the roundtable, it is already clear that the spectrum of opinions on AI is very broad and diverse.
The unions are calling for tougher and immediate regulations after a wave of mass redundancies has swept the nation, while the tech bros and CEOs desperate want the government to let A.I rip.
What is not clear is the Treasurer’s position on all of this.
Speaking to Lara Ferguson in a live TV interview for ABC 730 last night, Chalmers said Australia must take a ‘sensible, middle path’ towards A.I – while also describing the technology as a ‘Game-changer’ that we can be ‘optimistic about’.
However, ahead of the roundtable, the Treasurer has decided he does need to do a bit of his own research.
“So this is A.I, huh?” said the Treasuer, after his staff placed a 2017 Amazon Echo Dot speaker on his desk this morning.
“Wait. So I can just tell it to play songs and shit”
“Okay hold up. Alexa, play Inala Still Da Same by the Indigenous Intrudaz”
Gritty south-west Brisbane hip hop begins pumping through the Treasurer’s office.
“Bro” says the Treasurer
“I fear we may have just awoken a sleeping monster.
